*To see post with video, go to this link. 

March 18, 2009

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Let me tell you a story about how the Democrats screwed things up once again.  Way back in '06, when you were just a glimmer in the eye of your mommas, the Democrats stormed the Capitol and took back control of the House and Senate for the first time in 12 years.  Nancy Pelosi, the new Speaker of the House, made conservatives tremble across the country using her "mother of five" voice to rant about crazy things like increasing the minimum wage and repealing taxes to the wealthy to implement the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.  Progressive activists cheered and the middle class gave a huge sigh of relief.

 Two whole years in power--albeit two years with a veto-happy neocon at the helm--lay ahead, and the Democrats promised change for the better.  Hillary Clinton spent an unprecedented 30 Million dollars on her presi--I mean, on her Senate race.  Chuck Shcumer temporarily channeled the ravings of Karl Rove stating his intention to create a permanent Democratic Majority.  Things looked real good for the Democrats...

Then things started to go wrong.  Terribly, terribly wrong.  In the small time between the actual election and the time the Democrats took power, things began to unravel.  The Republicans stalled all legislation so they could dump their under funded programs in the lap of newly elected democrats on January 1st (Happy New Year, we've  all pitched in to give you 20 billion dollars worth of under funded programs).  In-house fighting began to go public between different factions of the party.  Blue Dog's courting moderate Republican constituents refused to jump on board with radical Nancy's ideological agenda.  Within the party there were 217 different plans to improve our course in Iraq, and the Republicans who got us into the war sat back while we fought amongst ourselves.

More after the fold...

If you are a news junky, you are already over the shock of Lieberman's defeat and the fact that Democratic voters actually have the nerve to vote against people who don't represent their values.  

News junkies have probably also noticed today that the new Republican battle cry, unveiled today, is that Democrats will kick anyone out of the party who is pro-national security.  This line by the Republicans is just another example of how conservatives are able to dumb down their message and turn it into an attack.  Normally, this tactic is effective. In this instance, however, the Republican strategy could backfire.  

Why?  No one agrees with them.  

People aren't talking about Joe Lieberman being voted out because he is tough on security, they are talking about him being voted out for supporting the ill planned and unjustified war in Iraq.  There is a difference, and the American people see it. A new poll out this week says that 60 percent of Americans oppose the war in Iraq and think that we should have at least a partial troop withdrawal by the end of the year.  Unless that same 60 percent also consider themselves to be weak on national security, I don't think the Republican attack this fall will work.  Like Lieberman, Republican refusal to be realistic about conditions in Iraq may help to cement their defeat in the upcoming elections.